


All In 2.0

by cosmictrap



Category: New Girl
Genre: Drama, Humour, Post SOCALYALCON
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-07 08:52:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14667597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmictrap/pseuds/cosmictrap
Summary: When Jess comes back from Portland after weeks of being off the grid, Nick takes a page out Schmidt's book, hoping for the same kind of reconciliation that Schmidt and Cece had had. But as usual, things go awry.





	All In 2.0

It was Schmidt’s fault, if Nick was being _ somewhat  _ honest with himself. But if he was being  _ completely  _ honest with himself, it was his own stupidity for agreeing to it at all. He should’ve known better than that and should’ve, like his first instinct had been, punched Schmidt in the face for suggesting something that preposterous in the first place. If he had done that, he wouldn't be alone in his bed, face into the pillow, thinking of exactly the same thing he had been for the last couple of days.

_ “It’s simple, man. Propose to her when she comes back from Portland!” said Schmidt confidently.  _

_ “Have you lost your damn mind?!” asked Nick incredulously, halfway over to Schmidt, closing his fist with the intent of punching his best friend’s face. _

_ “Before you punch me,” said Schmidt knowingly, raising his hands to calm him down. “Consider that I did exactly that.” _

_ “What?” Nick asked blankly. _

_ Schmidt rolled his. “That’s exactly how I proposed to Cece, you dumbass! I’d broken up with Fawn and was intent on finding Cece to tell her that I loved her. But she came home, and I just… got down on one knee! And you know what she said?” he asked smugly, eyebrows raised and held his hand up so Nick could see his wedding band. “She said ‘yes’.” _

_ “I know, I was there,” muttered Nick, wondering if maybe Schmidt was right. _

_ “See? And yours is the exact same situation. I don’t see why you couldn’t do it. You love her…” _

_ “I do,” said Nick, nodding sincerely. _

_ “And she loves you…” _

_ Nick looked up at Schmidt unsurely, making Schmidt sigh. He walked up to Nick and lay a comforting hand on Nick’s shoulder. “Nick, believe me when I tell you that girl head over heels in love with you! You just didn’t see it because you’re an… how do I put this delicately… an idiot sandwich.” _

_ “Real delicate, man,” said Nick annoyedly. _

_ “But seriously, Nick, you have to trust me. I’m married to her best friend,” said Schmidt pointedly, as Nick paced the living room frustratedly.  _

_ “But Schmidt, I don’t think she will-” _

_ “Nicholas!” snapped Schmidt, in that typical douchey way of his. “You still have that ring, don’t you?” _

_ “Yes…” _

_ “Then, just do it! She’ll say yes and it’ll be perfect,” said Schmidt. “It’ll be a testament to our unbreakable bond, when we tell everyone the story of how both of us proposed the same way,” finished Schmidt, staring into the distance.  _

_ Nick made a face at him and shook his head, starting to actually mull over what Schmidt had said. Had Cece been around of course, she would’ve immediately shot down the idea. But she wasn’t. And so the idea stayed. Long enough to allow Nick to daydream about how it would go and what he would say. Now all he had to do was wait for Jess to come back.  _

_ And she did show up as suddenly as she’d left, on a Sunday morning. Nick jumped out of the couch, for probably the millionth time that week in the hopes that it was Jess. So, when he saw her standing there with a sheepish smile on her face, clearly apologetic for her sudden disappearance, he enveloped her in a hug. Stiff at first she relaxed into him. _

_ “Hey, Miller.” _

_ “Good to have you back, Day.” _

_ He picked up her suitcase and saying, “Wait right here,” raced into his bedroom after dropping her suitcase off in hers. _

_ Jess looked at her friends lounging on the couch unsurely. Cece looked equally confused while she could see Schmidt shaking from excitement. Winston was as usual oblivious to the oddness of what had just transpired and was absent-mindedly petting Furguson.  _

_ As Nick appeared in the hallway again, Schmidt stood up and looked pointedly at Winston and Cece. “Cecelia, Winston. I need to talk to you both about something of utmost importance.” _ _   
_

_ “Sure, what is it?” asked Cece, while Winston looked at him questioningly. _

_ “Alone, please,” said Schmidt again. “In the kitchen.” _

_ As Nick came to a halt in front of Jess, she looked over his shoulder in confusion as she saw the rest of them walk into the kitchen. Her gaze drifted back to Nick’s questioningly, clearly confused, even more so as she took in the really nervous expression on his face. _

_ “Nick…? What’s… um, what’s going on?” she chuckled nervously. _

_ Drawing a deep breath, he said, “Jess, I love you.” _

_ “Oh!” Her eyes widened in surprise. “Nick, I-” _

_ “No, let me finish, Jess. Please?” _

_ “Okay,” she said swallowing thickly, her smile still slightly nervous. _

_ “Look, I should’ve known you were the one for me from the beginning. Maybe I did. Oh, and I broke up with Reagan, in case you didn’t know. Oh wait, Bob must have told you. I spoke to him. A couple of days back,” he rambled, not stopping till Jess giggled slightly and tilted her head. “Anyways, that’s… That’s not the point. I always knew that you meant a lot to me, but I didn’t realize the extent to which I depended on you until you… left. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and…” _

_ He paused to dig into his pocket, and Jess took a second to realize what was happening. Her smile froze on her face as he pulled out the small blue box and flipped it open to show the ring seated in red velvet - an antique silver ring with a single diamond, held in place with delicate gold vines. _

_ “Jessica Day…” he said, as he lowered himself down on one knee. _

_ “Nick…”  she started nervously. _

_ “...Will you marry me?” _

_ She licked her lips nervously, her eyes darting between his face and the ring. Her eyes filled with tears and she sniffled before giving him an apprehensive smile. She didn’t say anything, but knelt down as well, face levelled with his.  _

_ “I love you too,” she said, smiling. She took his hands in hers, one hand closing around the hand with the ring box. “But I can’t marry you.” _

_ Nick, in all frankness, had not considered this a possibility. So his brain sort of slowed down for a second, because she had said that she loved him. But had followed it immediately with words that seemed to the say the opposite of her previous statement. He doesn't say anything and just stares at her, waiting for her to say something. She cups his face in her hands and smiles a little sadly. _

_“Nick, so much time has passed between…_ ** _back then_** _and now. So much has changed, I don’t even know where to begin. You just broke up with Reagan, too. But what if-”_

_ “No,” he said firmly, knowing full well what she was going to say. “This is not me trying to make myself feel better because I’m lonely, or hurt. I actually don’t care about the breakup, Jess. I love you. I mean it.” _

_ “I don’t doubt that,” she said quietly. “But as I said, a lot has changed Nick and if we just jump into this… I don’t want us to be on completely different pages like… last time.” _

_ “Jess, I’m sure we can-” _

_ “Work it through? Like last time?” she asked skeptically, and Nick was starting to feel desperate now.  _

_ “Why are you so against this? Do you not trust that we’ll make it? I'm all in!” he said. _

_ “Nick. We were all in last time too,” she sighed, her heart aching a little at the words.  _

_ "Jess, that's exactly what it is!  **Last time.** It'll be different, and-" _

_ “I need to know _ **_for sure,_ ** _"_ _   she said quietly. "I love you, I do. But I just… I  _ **_need_ ** _ to know. If this falls apart, I won’t-” _

_ “It won’t, Jess,” he insisted anxiously.  _

_ “You don’t know that,” she whispered. “Please, Nick. It’s not like I don’t want to marry you. I do. God, I do. But I want to do this…  _ **_right._ ** _ ” _

_ “Okay, alright,” he said at last. “Whatever you want, Jess.” _

“I should’ve just punched him in the face,” Nick muttered into his pillow as he lay face down, two days after that afternoon.

He wished he’d just followed his gut and taken it slowly with her. Because since that horrendous afternoon, she hadn’t brought it up again even once. Nick wasn’t sure where they were at, but he didn’t want to push her out of her comfort zone either. Every time she smiled at him, or even passed by him in the loft, his nerves would fray because he had no idea what to do next. 

She’d said no, and he had no idea what to do next.

**Author's Note:**

> Weird, I know but my brain is stupid or I would've dropped writing fic a long time ago xD Leave reviews, thanks :)


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